Evaluation of Processing Tomato Pomace after Composting on Soil Properties, Yield, and Quality of Processing Tomato in Greece

Ioanna Kakabouki,Antigolena Folina,Ilias Travlos,Charikleia Zisi,Varvara Kouneli,Stella Karydogianni,Nikolaos C Kapsalis,Nikolaos Katsenios,Aspasia Efthimiadou

doi:10.3390/agronomy11010088

Ioanna Kakabouki, Antigolena Folina + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010088

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Abstract

While processing tomato cultivation (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is considered one of the most important industrial crops in Greece, a waste known as tomato pomace is growing significantly high. Notably, the tomato pomace presents enormous opportunities for the creations of organic fertilizers. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of tomato pomace as a fertilizer in the same crop. A field experiment was established at the Agricultural University of Athens during 2018 and 2019 in a randomized complete design with five treatments (control, inorganic NPK (NPK), Tomato pomace and Biocycle Humus Soil (Tp and BHS), Tomato pomace and Farmyard manure (Tp and FYM), and Tomato pomace and Compost (Tp and CM). Physical soil properties such as soil porosity and penetration resistance were improved by the application of organic blends. Additionally, soil nitrogen content ranged from 0.10% (control and NPK) to 0.13% (Tp and FYM). A significant increase of yield was noticed under organic fertilization where the highest yield of 8.00 tn ha−1 was recorded in Tp and BHS (2018). Lycopene content was significantly affected by fertilization and its highest values were 87.25 (Tp and BHS; 2018), and 88.82 mg kg−1 fresh (Tp and FYM; 2019). Regarding fruit firmness, the three organic blends did not have statistically significant difference. In addition, the Total Soluble Solids (TSS) was significantly affected by the fertilization and the maximum value was 4.80 ◦Brix (Tp and CM; 2018). In brief, tomato pomace blended with organic fertilizers was yielded considerable since it improved soil quality and increased yield.

Highlights

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most significant vegetables worldwide, as it ranks second in production and consumption after potatoes, and has been conceded for its various health benefits, being rich in carotenoids, vitamin C, antioxidants, potassium, and low in cholesterol [1,2,3,4]
Soil porosity under inorganic fertilization was observed to be lower than the control in the first year, in contrast to the second year (41.39% and 43% respectively), there is no statistically significant difference
We evaluated a pre-harvest factor, which is the fertilization in processing tomato crop

Summary

Introduction

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most significant vegetables worldwide, as it ranks second in production and consumption after potatoes, and has been conceded for its various health benefits, being rich in carotenoids (lutein, lycopene), vitamin C, antioxidants, potassium, and low in cholesterol [1,2,3,4]. There are two categories of tomato cultivation; the fresh consumption and the processing tomato cultivation, which is about converting the tomatoes into various other products besides using it as a vegetable (tomato juice, paste, purée, ketchup, sauce, and salsa). Tomato crops are one of the most demanding crops in terms of water and fertilizer [6]. The growing density of population and food demands have led to the excessive and widespread application of fertilizers use to meet the need of people [8]

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